Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

While I welcome the significant work that has been done in the special educational needs area and the allocation of a dedicated Minister of State to hold the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, and the Department to account, the distribution of special education teachers is a critical matter that has come up in recent days in many rural schools. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of discussing Clogher National School outside Castlebar with its principal and one of the parents. The school has experienced nearly 100% growth in enrolment over the past six years. The school has two special needs assistants, SNAs, to support children and it is facing a reduction in its special education teacher, SET, allocation from 20 hours to 17.5 hours. That might seem insignificant but to them it is hugely important. This is particularly alarming given the diverse needs of the students, including a child with Down's syndrome, multiple children with autism and two children with significant speech and language delays.

Similarly, Meelick National School also contacted me, which employs one full-time SET, and shares the role with different schools. The real concern here is the rationale for the removal of complex needs in the context of the allocation of additional resources for schools. It is a real concern, which has been highlighted by AsIAm and Inclusion Ireland and it is causing significant problems for school principals and boards of management.

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